Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

Re: Software developer - cease and desists letter.

C&D letters are the first prelude to lawsuit by the sender. Do NOT ignore it.

You should hire an attorney to handle this matter for you. You're looking for an employment lawyer. Make sure you show the attorney any contracts you signed with the company, including especially any nondisclosure/noncompetition agreements (these are generally in the documents you sign when you start and again when you leave).

Good luck.

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Re: Software developer - cease and desists letter.

You may also want to escrow your code ASAP so that a comparison can be done to prove that you started from scratch. But you definitely need an employment lawyer, too. A patent lawyer might also be helpful.

Re: Software developer - cease and desists letter.

I agree with everyone that you should seek counsel to not only assess the scope of your potential liability, but to also make sure that you have a cogent response on record through a written reply.

Prior to that however, you should first assess whether you are subject to any covenants, restrictions, or non-competes with regard to your subsequent employment with the previous company.

You want to ask the following:

1. What contracts involved with your former employer, if any?

2. Were you employed pursuant to a contract such as an employment contract or an employee intellectual property assignment agreement?

3. Did you agree to some kind of post development restriction?

4. Who owns the copyright (or patent) to the original software (though very likely the employer, there is no harm in asking this question)?

Secondly, you want to make sure that you can positively assert that the new software does not infringe the previous copyright/patent. Hence escrowing the code (i.e. depositing it with a recognized third party) to confirm its authenticity is a good step. Also, bear in mind that though you may have devised new source code, to the extent the software you developed may infringe the claim language of the former�s employer�s patent (if any), that may also be a problem you will have to face.

I hope that the situation is resolved amicably.

Re: Software developer - cease and desists letter.

I agree with everyone that you should seek counsel to not only assess the scope of your potential liability, but to also make sure that you have a cogent response on record through a written reply.

Prior to that however, you should first assess whether you are subject to any covenants, restrictions, or non-competes with regard to your subsequent employment with the previous company.

You want to ask the following:

1. What contracts involved with your former employer, if any?

2. Were you employed pursuant to a contract such as an employment contract or an employee intellectual property assignment agreement?

3. Did you agree to some kind of post development restriction?

4. Who owns the copyright (or patent) to the original software (though very likely the employer, there is no harm in asking this question)?

Secondly, you want to make sure that you can positively assert that the new software does not infringe the previous copyright/patent. Hence escrowing the code (i.e. depositing it with a recognized third party) to confirm its authenticity is a good step. Also, bear in mind that though you may have devised new source code, to the extent the software you developed may infringe the claim language of the former�s employer�s patent (if any), that may also be a problem you will have to face.

I hope that the situation is resolved amicably.